Would you have done it?
by thecagedsong
Summary: Okay, she had prepared herself for Natsu begging her not to go at all, and Natsu telling her to have fun, but she hadn't prepared herself to tell him to get lost. This is one version of how things could have gone after they returned from Edolas


"Hey Natsu, there's something I need to tell you." Lucy mentioned casually. She had been fretting about this decision all night, but finally came to the conclusion that she had faith in Natsu and that was that. It was the morning after they returned from Edolas, and Lucy had been horrified to find out that time passed differently in the two worlds, or the jump took a lot of time, or something like that, because Lucy still needed 30,000 J for her rent due today. It was only the whole saving the town from becoming a giant lacrimia bit that got her a week's extension as it was. Natsu had been sitting at the guild next to Happy, probably waiting for her.

"Hey Lucy, I thought you would have slept in just like everyone else." He grinned at her, "You know, since your bed is just so comfy." He got a thwack on the head for that, reminding her of the numerous nights Natsu had slept in her bed. It was kind of strange, but he really did just fall asleep easily in her bed, and in her house in general. It was probably some dragony thing that Igneel taught him, but they were in the human world and her bed was off limits. Not that that stopped him of course.

"Don't know if you've noticed, but the morning Fiore Times shows that we were gone 15 days instead of the five we actually spent in Edolas. My landlady isn't giving me a break so I need a mission ASAP." Lucy was about to explain the rest of the plan when Natsu interrupted her.

"Sure, Happy? You up for a mission this soon?" Natsu poked the sleeping exceed.

"But Natsu, Lisanna just got back from being dead for two years, you should be here. I already have a mission in mind, and Gray said he would go with me, so now you can stay here with Lisanna." That was where the faith came in, her faith in the relationship she and Natsu shared was going to be tested. She was betting everything that he wouldn't just ditch her for his old girlfriend. That they would still be partners when she returned, but she had to give him the opportunity to choose.

"No! Lucy! We're a team, you, me, and Happy. Why would you want to go on a mission with ice prick anyway? I am loads better than him at everything. Please let me go with you instead." Okay, she had prepared herself for Natsu begging her not to go, and Natsu telling her to have fun, but she hadn't prepared herself to tell him to get lost.

"But what about Lisanna?" Lucy asked.

"She'll be fine." Natsu dismissed, avoiding her eyes.

"Natsu, she just came back from an alternate reality, she hasn't used her magic in two years, she'll want her old boyfriend to help her adjust." Boyfriend was the correct term for what they had, but what did that make Lucy and Natsu? They were best friends now, and she was positive that wasn't going to change. However, she knew that she wouldn't want her boyfriend spending all his time with another girl, so that's where the faith came in.

Natsu looked at Lucy, confused, "Who told you we were dating?" Lucy realized her mistake.

"Whoops, I guess I just assumed that because of how Mira and Cana talked about you guys. Guess they never actually said you two had dated," Lucy felt a tiny rush of relief at those words, there was no possible way Natsu would ditch her now, "old best friend then. Either way you should help her since she just got back." Lucy finished.

"We aren't best friends." Natsu said coldly and I got the feeling he was really unhappy about something. I had about 15 more minutes before I needed to meet Gray, so let's see what Lucy the Therapist could do.

"From what I understand from everyone else you two were attached at the hip. It isn't like you to be like this towards a friend. You never even mentioned her to me because you were so hurt about her 'death'. I'm betting some of those nightmares I heard from you were about her. What's the problem?" Lucy folded her arms and glared at him. No trust me, this is still Therapist Lucy talking, Natsu was just better at revealing his feelings if he was forced to instead of cajoled.

"Nothing," he said curtly before turning his back to her. She yanked his shoulder so that he spun around to facing her again. The guild was mostly empty because apparently almost getting turned into solid energy felt like a hangover the next morning.

"Try again. I'm about to leave for a week, and I can't be distracted by you sitting here like a PMSing teenager. Are you not happy Lisanna's back?" Natsu also sent a look around the guild to check the true emptiness of the place before answering his partner.

"Of course I'm happy, or at least I was. I am happy for Elfman and Mira, but I don't know how she could do that us!" Lucy was surprised by his anger, but it didn't stop him from continuing.

"I was there! When I saw her I cried, and she just stood there. I thought she was dead, I had nightmares about losing her, I had to explain to Happy he would never see her again, and when she saw the real me she did nothing! You heard her story; Lisanna was planning on staying in Edolas with the other Fairy Tail instead of taking the chance to come back with us.

If it was up to her, I would still be having nightmares about her dying, Elfman would still blame himself and be scared of his own magic, and Mira would still be spending three weeks each year dressed in all black and going to sleep crying. Don't ask, I can smell it on her. She chose the other Fairy Tail over us, and that isn't the Lisanna I was friends with." His voice dropped down at the end of his speech and I didn't know what to say. Natsu was right, but at the same time Lisanna needs him. She was trying to figure out what to say, so she was surprised when Natsu asked her a question.

"Would you have done it?" Lucy knew exactly what he was talking about.

Would she have taken the place of Edolas Lucy if it meant sparing her friends pain? Well, alternate versions of her friends. If Edolas Natsu had come up and hugged her with tears, would she have been able to **be** Lucy Ashley to spare him? Would she have been able to live the lie?

"No, I lived a fake life for 6 years with my father; I wouldn't be able to go back. Not only are the two of us completely different in personality, but if Lucy died she would deserve to be mourned. It would hurt to see you and everyone else crying, but it would be the best way to heal. My dad pretended for a whole week that my mom wasn't dead and just on vacation, I found out from the maids and I wanted him dead as well. I wouldn't be able to do it. Everyone there deserves better than a fake Lucy Ashley." Natsu pulled me into a bone-crushing hug when I finished my little speech. After thirty seconds I pushed him away with a stern look.

"But that doesn't mean you should stay mad at Lisanna. The girl was 15 and had no hope of getting back home. It was the best way for her to fit in, and she probably hated herself a lot of the time. Now she's back and she needs help. This is one of those times where you give people what they need and not what they necessarily deserve. Remind her why she should have never left here and when I get back we'll go on a mission together, alright? She is still a member of Fairy Tail and we need to help her." She grabbed his face and made sure he got the message. There was a little struggle, but eventually Natsu relaxed and nodded. Using the close proximity Lucy rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek before taking a step back.

"Now I better hear Lisanna had the best week in Earthland when I come back." She threatened, but smiled a bit to take the edge off. Natsu grabbed her arm just before she walked out.

"The mission isn't too dangerous, right? You aren't going up against a rampaging killer with a thing for blondes?" Natsu checked. Lucy chuckled.

"Nope, a wizard using teleportation magic to steal historical artifacts. If we aren't back in a week you can come to Cork and look for us yourself. But we will be back. Tell Happy I said bye." Natsu released her and she was finally able to leave.

"So, Flame Brain take it okay?" Gray asked when she arrived at the train station.

"Nope, he was begging me like a three year old not to leave him behind, now come on, I don't want to end up in a compartment with little kids again." Gray laughed, remembering the time they had to sit separate because it took forever to get Natsu onto the train. Erza stayed with a knocked out Natsu while the two of them had sat with three year olds who loved to tug Lucy's hair and had spilled grape juice on her skirt. Possibly the only outfit to survive an all-out fight was felled by purple grape juice.

"I always knew that idiot was a weakling inside," Gray said.

"Pssht, you liar. If he was such a weakling he wouldn't be worth fighting. Don't even try and pretend like you don't care about him." Lucy said casually, selecting an empty compartment and loading her suitcase. Gray did the same before replying.

"Please, I hate his guts." Lucy snorted.

"Try again Gray, your acting hasn't gotten any better than when we were in a theater company. I have been with both of you on countless jobs you forget. You two are best buds that would do anything for each other. I don't know why you are so afraid to show that you care about Natsu, Erza, and me." Gray refused to look her in the eye and chose to stare out the window instead. A light red dusting his face.

"It's different for guys, showing that you care about someone is just admitting you have a weakness. It's not manly." Gray was sure Lucy was going to snort again at his choice of words, but instead she just looked thoughtful.

"But it isn't all guys, and it's not just guys. It seems like everyone in the guild has a chip on their shoulder and getting anyone to show real emotion is like pulling teeth." Now it was Gray's turn to snort.

"Lucy, it might be like pulling teeth for you, but for everyone else it's more like trying to pull a river out of the ground. Keep working with us stubborn idiots, I'm sure that given time you'll have gone through every member and made them emotionally stable." Lucy sighed at the job ahead of her.

"Well, there is one person I won't have to worry about keeping her emotions hidden," Lucy commented idly.

"Who?"

"Juvia, the girl wears her emotions on her sleeve and is proud of it. Sometimes I feel like she is the bravest person in all of Fairy Tail, living every day of her life like that." She glanced over to see how Gray had taken her comments and was rewarded with him considering her statement seriously.

"I guess you're right. Juvia is brave in a way that no one else is, it's pretty special. You sure there isn't anything you can do to help her emotional balance?" They laughed and miles away Juvia felt an inexplicable happiness in her heart. It lasted for the rest of the day until someone told her that Lucy was on a mission alone with Gray.

"Hey, we're back!" Lucy called out as she re-entered the guildhall.

"Oh, how did it go?" Mira asked from where she was chatting with Erza.

"Lucy was amazing," Gray said ruffling the blonde's hair as she blushed, "she cracked the code the thief was using to tell his clients where to collect the items. It took a little longer because it turned out the guy only teleported objects and then turned himself invisible. We caught him on the second try."

"Hey, anyone could have figured it out from the ad in the paper." Lucy replied with a modest blush. Just as she was about to tell every how Gray had done an amazing job as well, she got tackled to the ground, something furry on her head and something warm wrapped around her body. She could see Gray relaxing the combat stance he had taken when the warm thing spoke.

"Luuuuccccy, we missed you!" Looking straight up she could see Natsu's bright face smiling down at her and she laughed. Finally he allowed her to sit up and she noticed Lisanna smiling at them from the bar. After taking Happy off her head and into her arms and giving Natsu a full after mission cuddle, she walked over to sit next to Lisanna.

"So Lisanna, sorry I wasn't here for your first week back, but the time switch messed up my rent. How was your week?" Lucy smiled sweetly, but Natsu knew what was happening and tried to signal Lisanna to say the best week ever.

Lisanna paid him no mind, "It's really nice to be able to use my magic again, it took four days just to remember the bird transformation, and my siblings have barely let me out of their sight. Of course Natsu has been a big help, reminding me what personalities needed to be treated as opposite of Edolas. I even stopped flinching when Erza walks by." Now Lisanna leaned closer and lowered her voice, "Don't tell anyone this, but I was terrified of Erza before I left; so that one really didn't change very much." Lucy giggled, remembering how Natsu and Gray were when she first joined Fairy Tail. Their description of Erza had been a fifty-foot tall female giant that liked to kick over mountains; she didn't know what to think of the Titania when a normal-sized responsible person walked through the guild with a monster horn slung over her shoulder. Lucy turned to Natsu, laughed at his fake disinterested expression, and told him to go pick a mission for tomorrow. One that was nearby so that he wouldn't have motion sickness.

"Sweet! Come on Happy, let's go pick a good one!" Lisanna laughed with her at their pink-haired friend.

"You aren't that much different from my Lucy." She said with a grin. Lucy guessed that since she met Edolas Lucy first it would be her turn to be the 'fake' Lucy.

"How so? I'm much more likely to laugh at a fight than get in there and throw a punch. Ashley didn't care about her looks at all while I spend an hour every morning getting ready. She was basically the Erza of their Fairy Tail." Lucy laughed, that was twice the most frightening opponent on a battlefield looked exactly like herself. First Gemini and now a tough girl from an alternate universe.

"Yeah, but both of you have Natsu wrapped around your finger. Thanks for what you did Lucy."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lucy said slyly, not meeting Lisana's eye, "No one controls Natsu, not even Erza, if he really means it." She didn't know if Lisanna had heard the last conversation with Natsu or just picked something up over the past week, but her answer seemed good enough because Lisanna gave Lucy a hug. Turns out the girl was a lot stronger than expected and the bone crushing hug rivaled that of Erza's.

Lucy left the Guild around at fiveish after catching up with all her friends. Nastu had picked a job that while it didn't require a train ride, they would still have to get up early, so she retired quickly. Three of the last six nights she had pulled all-nighters waiting for their villain, and the most recent night was spent leaning on Gray as they rode home. She woke up on his lap, which was infinitly more comfortable than his muscled shoulders, but it still wasn't the best night's rest. All she wanted now was a long soak and her bed. After tomorrow's job with Natsu she would have enough money to go clothes shopping again, which, due to her outfit's tendency to get completely destroyed, was sorely needed.

Walking in she waved casually to Erza, who was sitting on her couch, before doing a double take.

"Don't worry Lucy, I'm not here to keep you up. I just noticed how tired you were at the guild and decided to make you dinner. It's in the oven right now, so don't take too long with your bath." Realizing that she was actually starving, Lucy sent her friend the most grateful look she could muster before leaving the room. Erza wasn't scary anymore, in fact Erza was probably the best female friend Lucy had, so it was going to be her job to make sure Lisanna understood that. Erza Scarlett was not Nightwalker.

After a bath, a hug, and dinner with the S class mage Lucy finally crawled into her bed. The tired fell asleep instantly, and while she was exhausted, it probably had more to do with the fire dragon slayer who had crept into the bed and fallen asleep before she did. There was no strength left to kick him and Happy out, and his warmth reached to her side of the bed.

It was the best sleep either of them had in a while.

**AN: I feel sorry for Lisanna, she had a tough choice to make and was asked to make it on the spot. It's easier to say you'll do something than actually do it, but I still think she made the wrong choice. This is my response to Lucy is ignored/hated, and Lisanna takes her place. 4/5**


End file.
